The 2026 Melbourne FIA Formula 2 round was a motor racing event held between 6 and 8 March 2026 at the Albert Park Circuit. It served as the opening round of the 2026 FIA Formula 2 Championship and was held in support of the 2026 Australian Grand Prix.
Report Practice Gabriele Minì of MP Motorsport set the fastest lap of the free practice session on Friday. Two red flags were issued during practice; Hitech's Colton Herta crashed midway through his first session at a Formula One Grand Prix weekend, and an off-track excursion by Formula 2 debutant Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak eventually ended the session prematurely.
Classification Qualifying Qualifying was held on 6 March 2026, at 14:55 local time (UTC+11). Driver Entrant Time/Gap 17 Dino Beganovic DAMS Lucas Oil 1:28.695 10 1214 Martinius Stenshorne Rodin Motorsport +0.21692315 Alex Dunne Rodin Motorsport +0.3448345 Noel León Campos Racing +0.3817456 Nikola Tsolov Campos Racing +0.4286561 Rafael Câmara Invicta Racing +0.44856716 Kush Maini ART Grand Prix +0.46447810 Oliver Goethe MP Motorsport +0.5593892 Joshua DürksenInvicta Racing +0.789291017 Tasanapol InthraphuvasakART Grand Prix +0.8461101124 Laurens van HoepenTrident +0.8691111128 Roman BilinskiDAMS Lucas Oil +0.9101212133 Ritomo MiyataHitech TGR +0.9451313144 Colton HertaHitech TGR +1.07014141511 Sebastián MontoyaPrema Racing +1.12915151623 Rafael VillagómezVan Amersfoort Racing +1.36716161725 John BennettTrident +1.54417171820 Emerson Fittipaldi Jr.AIX Racing +1.79518181922 Nicolás VarroneVan Amersfoort Racing +1.82719192021 Cian ShieldsAIX Racing +2.0482020219 Gabriele MinìMP Motorsport +2.4382121107% time: 1:34.903 (+6.208)—12 Mari BoyaPrema Racing +34.1982222Source:
Notes: – Mari Boya failed to set a time within the 107%-mark after crashing during qualifying. He was given permission from the stewards to start both races at the back of the grid.
Sprint race The sprint race was held on 7 March 2026, at 14:10 local time (UTC+11). DriverEntrantLapsTime/RetiredPoints12 Joshua DürksenInvicta Racing2339:09.72621025 Noel LeónCampos Racing23 +2.13978315 Alex DunneRodin Motorsport23 +5.74686417 Tasanapol InthraphuvasakART Grand Prix23 +7.1561553 Ritomo MiyataHitech23 +7.26613469 Gabriele MinìMP Motorsport23 +7.734213724 Laurens van HoepenTrident23 +8.47711288 Roman BilinskiDAMS Lucas Oil23 +8.559121911 Sebastián Montoya Prema Racing23 +8.982151014 Martinius Stenshorne Rodin Motorsport23 +9.51991111 Rafael Câmara Invicta Racing23 +9.54851216 Kush Maini ART Grand Prix23 +9.93841323 Rafael Villagómez Van Amersfoort Racing23 +10.331161420 Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. AIX Racing23 +12.078181525 John Bennett Trident23 +12.56917164 Colton Herta Hitech23 +13.20114176 Nikola Tsolov Campos Racing23 +13.90461810 Oliver Goethe MP Motorsport23 +14.48931921 Cian Shields AIX Racing23 +15.43820207 Dino Beganovic DAMS Lucas Oil23 +15.965102122 Nico Varrone Van Amersfoort Racing23 +18.23019DNF12 Mari Boya Prema Racing13 Accident22Fastest lap: Martinius Stenshorne (1:32.045 on lap 23)Source:
Notes: – Martinius Stenshorne received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage over Nikola Tsolov.
Feature race The feature race was held on 8 March 2026, at 11:25 local time (UTC+11), and was contested over 33 laps. DriverEntrantLapsTime/RetiredPoints16 Nikola TsolovCampos Racing3356:05.24852521 Rafael CâmaraInvicta Racing33 +1.669618324 Laurens van HoepenTrident33 +3.5171115+1410 Oliver GoetheMP Motorsport33 +4.81681253 Ritomo MiyataHitech33 +5.6841310617 Tasanapol InthraphuvasakART Grand Prix33 +12.17910874 Colton HertaHitech33 +17.41114689 Gabriele MinìMP Motorsport33 +18.707214911 Sebastián MontoyaPrema Racing33 +19.443152102 Joshua DürksenInvicta Racing33 +21.800911123 Rafael Villagómez Van Amersfoort Racing33 +22.23116128 Roman Bilinski DAMS Lucas Oil33 +22.316121312 Mari Boya Prema Racing33 +23.81322145 Noel León Campos Racing33 +24.00241520 Emerson Fittipaldi Jr. AIX Racing33 +24.384181616 Kush Maini ART Grand Prix33 +25.07971722 Nico Varrone Van Amersfoort Racing33 +27.063191825 John Bennett Trident33 +28.397171921 Cian Shields AIX Racing33 +48.99920DNF7 Dino Beganovic DAMS Lucas Oil15 Mechanical12DNF14 Martinius Stenshorne Rodin Motorsport2 Collision2DNF15 Alex Dunne Rodin Motorsport2 Collision3Fastest lap: Dino Beganovic (1:31.730 on lap 13)Source:
Notes: – Sebastián Montoya and Nico Varrone both received a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. – Joshua Dürksen was handed a five-second time penalty for a false start. – Cian Shields was given a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. – Dino Beganovic set the fastest lap but did not finish in the top ten, so he was ineligible to score the point for it. Laurens van Hoepen scored the point for setting the fastest lap among those finishing in the top ten.
Standings after the event
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points 1 Nikola Tsolov25 2 Rafael Câmara18 3 Laurens van Hoepen18 4 Ritomo Miyata14 5 Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak13Source: Teams' Championship standings Team Points 1 Campos Racing33 2 Invicta Racing29 3 Hitech20 4 MP Motorsport19 5 Trident18Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also 2026 Australian Grand Prix 2026 Melbourne Formula 3 round
Notes
References
External links
Official website